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19/12 The Dark Knight's lessons for non-superheroes

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Posted: Thu, Jul. 19, 2012, 3:00 AM

Christian Bale as Batman in a scene from "The Dark Knight

Rises." Warner Bros. Pictures

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The Dark Knight's lessons for non-superheroes

By Bryna Kranzler

This s eason of superheroes has seen the release of

The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man, with The

Dark Knight Rises arriving this weekend. Each filmrestores a favored crusader to his fictional world just

when it needs him mos t. This is appropriate as we face

lingering unemployment, debt crises, and international

tensions that seem beyond mere mortals ' ability to

resolve them.

Being constrained by the laws of physics as well as

generally accepted principles of reality, we can't summon

mas ked superheroes to save us in life. But our fictional

protectors can teach us to find the superheroes within.

The protagonists of this summer's films share more than

crime-fighting: Each also experienced the trauma oflosing his parents at an early age. Tony Stark (The

Avengers ' Iron Man) was orphaned by a plane crash.

Peter Parker (Spider-Man) was raised by his aunt and

uncle. And Bruce Wayne (Batman, also known as the

Dark Knight) witnessed the murder of his parents.

These characters became heroes because these

traumas changed them. Tony Stark, having taken

shrapnel to his chest in a kidnapping, creates a s uit that facilitates his escape while keeping the shrapnel from

penetrating his heart. A radioactive spider's bite endows Peter Parker with arachnoid talents that he chooses not to

use, until the death of the uncle who rais ed him draws him into crime-fighting. Bruce Wayne is propelled by a

desire to avenge his parents' deaths.

Our heroes' transformations converge with reality in a study illustrating the pos itive effects of traumatic experiences.

Described in the New York Times Magazine earlier this year, the s tudy may provide a road map for the rest of us to

discover hidden strengths.

University of North Carolina psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun wanted to understand why

some people overcome the kind of adversity that cripples others. Starting nearly 30 years ago, they interviewed

hundreds of survivors of severe injuries and los s. They found that many experienced emotional growth after

traumatic events, discovering new possibi lities, greater strength, and renewed appreciation for life.

The phenomenon that Tedeschi and Calhoun have dubbed "pos t-traumatic growth" was first observed in interviews

with aviators captured during the Vietnam War. As the Times Magazine noted, a s tunning 61 percent of these

former POWs said they had "benefited psychologically from their experience of captivity." Furthermore, the ones

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